The Heart Failure Association of the ESC has over 2,300 members, and has expanded its activities through various Committees.
The HFA offers Research Fellowships, as well as travel grants to young Heart Failure Congress participants.
Ongoing and new initiatives:
An attractive, user-friendly HF patient website http://www.heartfailurematters.org/ has been developed and represents an extremely useful tool for all health professionals involved in the management of patients with HF. It was launched at the ESC Congress 2007, and the German version will be launched at the ESC Congress 2008 in Munich, with French and Spanish underway.
We are cooperating with EHRA and the Institut für Herzinfarktforschung in Ludwigshafen, creating a large European CRT Survey that should provide essential information about everyday clinical practice, experience and outcomes in device therapy. This is a major effort, partly industry sponsored. The Survey extends from 1 October 2008 to 1 April 2009.
Other initiatives:
- The Committee on Translational Research organised a successful workshop in Brussels on Inflammation and Heart Failure.
- The HF nursing curriculum, developed by the Committee on HF Management Programmes, will be accredited by the EBSC and piloted in 3 countries.
- Four Educational courses were organised at the EHH during 2007:
Acute HF, Chronic HF, HF Management Programme and the Management of HF in Primary Care. Two courses are planned in 2008, on the ESC Guidelines on diagnosis and management of HF, and on Management of HF in Primary care.
- The Consensus Statements on Advanced Heart Failure and Diastolic Dysfunction have been published in the European Journal of Heart Failure and the European Heart Journal respectively.
- The Study Group on Advance Heart Failure organised a Symposium on Palliative Care in November 2007 in Copenhagen.
- In January 2008, the HFA Winter Research meeting was held for the third time in Garmisch-Partenkirchen with great success. The Winter Meeting 2009 will take place in Les Diablerets, Switzerland.
- The Heart Failure 2007 congress was held in Hamburg on June 09-12, 2007. 1,042 abstracts were submitted, 50% accepted, and the congress attracted more than 3,100 participants.
- The new 2008 ESC Clinical Practice Guidelines on acute and chronic HF were launched in Munich.
- The HF Congress 2008 was held in Milan, 14-17 June 2008, offering an exciting and challenging scientific programme. The Heart Failure Congress 2009 will be held in Nice, jointly with the ISHR.
- The European Journal of Heart Failure currently has an impact factor of 2.986, 139 institutional, 22 personal and 2,278 ESC subscriptions.